The Golden Age of Zen: Zen Masters of the T’ang Dynasty (Spiritual Masters of East and West)

This classic work has been compared to the writings of D. T. Suzuki in importance, and it carries the same imprint of authenticity. Additionally, however, the author--whose correspondence with Suzuki is included in the appendix of the book--reinforces several fascinating parallels between Zen and Christian mysticism by his inclusion of a masterful introduction by Thomas Merton, whose writings on Zen and Christianity are well known. All in all, The Golden Age of Zen, which traces the origins of Zen in Taoism and reflects the adamantine vision of the first T’ang masters, is a perfectly flowing study of the early history of the Zen tradition, and is destined to be an important source book on Zen for generations to come.